Kabayija toughens on graft

The eastern Province Governor, Dr. Ephraim Kabayija has retaliated his relentless commitment to end graft in the Province. He mentioned that there are no untouchables. “I will not tire to bring to book any one who mismanages or embezzles public funds,” he said yesterday in his office at the Eastern Province headquarters in Rwamagana. The governor was quick to mention the Bugesera scam, in which millions of Francs meant to construct school classrooms ended up being misused. “Over 100 million Francs were released by the Ministry of Education, to construct 22 classrooms in Bugesera district. Such gross mismanagement is unacceptable,” he reflected. Kingston enterprise that was awarded the contract ended up doing shoddy work. The owner of the enterprise, Theophile Rwampogazi is currently in prison. “A construction project was messed when district top officials were watching passively. In fact one site at a place called Juru is just a stone’s slow distance from the district headquarters. But surprisingly no body had visited it when the shoddy work was discovered by one headmistress,” Kabaija complained. On the issue of suspended Bugesera district officials, Kabayija said the decision was taken by the District Advisory Committee. “The Council took the decision to suspend them. But expect a tougher decision from me,” Kabayija warned.He further added that,“I will follow cases of such a nature all over the Province. So don’t get surprised, when you hear similar measures in another district. If we are public servants we have to be held accountable for public funds. This is simple logic some people are failing to understand. The fight against corruption is not a political show, but a reality,” he added. The governor said that some characters remind him of his experience in Nigeria. “In Nigeria, people took corruption as entrepreneurship. Corruption affects the entire population, from clerks in the countryside to senior government officials. Unfortunately, some people are becoming apathetic. They accept it as a part of life,” he lamented. Ends